Something on welding, from Michael Pearce on http://www.sword-manufacturers-guide.com/good-sword.html: Welded tangs are another issue- often the screw-thread of any kind of tang is welded on. There is nothing wrong with this in and of itself if the welds are of good quality and the weld is 'normaliz...

A rat tail is afaik an english term for the german "Gewindestange", which my current dictionary translates as "drop rod; threaded rod; studding". If that is a different thing, sorry. However, I came along some constructions from czech make on medieval european swords, which held up for years. But in...

No no, I meant the black one only. I don't think the custom maker cheat like that. My fake one looks real, but where the foil is cut, or where scratches damaged the foil, you can see it's not real skin. And I specifically ordered a sample of REAL ray skin, but got this one. Woohoo.

I'll see if my agent is still around, I lost contact since I didn't import anything for more than a year. However, don't believe everything you're told. I heard ridiculous stories about how high certain things are priced to "all foreigners", and later got the stuff for less than a TENTH of what was ...

You should be looking for highest quality cord, not off-the-shelve stuff. The grip feeling should be very well and the wrapping durable, this was not the case with the usual wrapping I got from China. But there are better ones. You can probably take any cord with the right thickness and width, it do...

If you make sure that the handle is securely fixed to the existing tang, and the tang is not poorely made, you don't have to lengthen the tang. Just make a tightly fitting wooden handle out of a hardwood, and bolt it to the tang. If necessary with 2 bolts. The pommel can be fixed to the handle with ...

The dark pattern is a question of steels used. I remember to have seen old, very dark blades on jian, but I don't know what exactly they have been. http://www.chinesearms.com/chinesearms/001/jian/ws1618/DSC00817.JPG From: http://www.chinesearms.com/ The white lines are in this case martensit, from h...

You have three choices: - custom made ones (Charles) - chinese imports (may be difficult to get and can cost anywhere between $5 and $100) - get a sample and have them replicated with the lost wax, rubber model or sand method as a small series I don't know Charles prices, but if they're in reach, th...

For an "attempt", it looks pretty good. Out of my belly, I'd think the arc on the front side is too strong and too long, I seem to remember a lesser curve on such blades. Yanmadao by definition are almost straight up to close to the tip, where the arc begins. See: http://www.derech.net/taichi_sword_...

I can only tell you my gut feeling, and this is, it isn't a fake, although not being too old. But it seems to be a sword that, albeit well forged from the shape, was never finished. Meaning, it was fabricated up to the hardening, but never polished, as the surface has deep marks from rough grinding....

Of course you can weld a lot. However, you can also do a lot wrong with welding, and then the connection is NOT durable. Notoriously, chinese makers weld together car exhausts in a crude fashion, and then it holds up against the cars vibrations for like 5000 miles - and falls apart. Selling a welded...